Documentation and Compliance Key in FINRA Sweep Exams of Options Accounts

Broker-dealers need to document their firm’s processes for supervising options trading and demonstrate compliance with them in new FINRA sweep exam on option accounts. The industry self-regulator is conducting targeted examinations of broker-dealers’ supervision of options trading as part of its ongoing efforts to protect retail investors. FINRA CEO Robert Cook had indicated in July that the sweep would be coming and the regulator followed through shortly thereafter, releasing its Targeted Examination Letter on Option Account Opening, Supervision, and Related Areas in early August. “Options are tricky and can be difficult to understand for certain investors. Even registered representatives recommending […]

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Form CRS Enforcement Begins with $910,092 in Fines

The grace period for firms to furnish investors with Form CRS customer relationship summaries has indeed ended now that the SEC has sanctioned firms for the first time, a little more than a year after the requirement took effect. The SEC has fined 21 investment advisers and six broker-dealers a total of $910,092. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firms agreed to be censured, cease and desist from violating the charged provisions, and pay civil penalties ranging from $10,000 to $97,523. “Registration with the SEC as an investment adviser or broker-dealer comes with mandated filing and disclosure obligations,” Gurbir […]

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Broker-dealers Hope for Permanent Remote Inspections as FINRA Ponders Extension

Regulators remain open to extending remote examinations for broker-dealers into 2022 and firms hope the relief will last even longer. FINRA President Robert Cook recently reiterated the need for exams to remain remote into 2022 during a conference held by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (SIFMA), WealthManagement reported. “What I’d like to see happen here, at least where my thinking currently is, is we would extend it into next year, and that we would also step back and look at that rule more holistically, and think about whether it could use some updating to accommodate a thoughtful, risk-based […]

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New State Insurance Regulations Surge as Regulators ‘Catch Up’ on Non-Pandemic Issues

State insurance regulations are changing faster than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, though it may be hard to tell. While a flood of pandemic-related state regulations (laws, administrative rules, bulletins and notices) pushed the numbers of insurance regulations to a record 3,600 in 2020, this year’s regulatory activity has proven to be just as busy as the previous record-breaking year, 2019. Many of this year’s insurance changes have been included in omnibus bills, some of which have reached an unprecedented 2,500 pages, rather than being introduced as stand-alone bills. “This legislative season has been busy because last season got […]

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